K/D Tournament Baileys Harbor Wrap-up
I spent my thirty bucks for a K/D ticket. I consider it an annual donation. Sure, it is possible, that I could have won the fifteen grand and that beautiful ring. I could have won the Power Ball too, I suppose. If you don’t enter, you can’t win. I wasn’t alone. Nearly four thousand anglers ponied up the entrance fee for the 41st annual K/D Salmon Tournament held this past July 14th through the 23rd. This summer tournament brings anglers from all over the Midwest to the Lake Michigan waters of Door and Kewaunee counties in pursuit of Chinook Salmon. Big fish will win the successful angler a piece of the $75,000 prize money. The largest fish garners a whopping fifteen grand! These anglers are not only after the fortune, it’s the glory. The winning fish gets mounted, to be displayed proudly, and the angler is awarded a silver ring signifying that, at least for this one time,, they were the top angler. Bragging rights are the coin of the realm in the angling community and winning the K/D is the ultimate brag.
I don’t fish for salmon any more (or any less) during the K/D than I do in the weeks before (or after) the tournament. I get out whenever the weather and my schedule will allow. In fact, Paul and I only got out on the big lake three of the ten days of the tournament. I had travel plans and we both had family obligations that kept us off the water. But we both purchased a ticket. I do so not only to support this huge regional event, but if I would be incredibly lucky enough to boat a winning fish, I’d feel like a real dope if I had not entered the tournament. Thirty dollars is a small premium for idiot insurance. We did manage to boat several salmon though ,including one nice fish about seventeen pounds. This was a bit disappointing as we had boated several twenty pound plus fish already this summer. But even our largest fish would not have put us anywhere close to a piece of the $75K. More than 400 20-plus-pound Chinooks were brought into the tournament scales and 53 were more than than 25 pounds. Now, at this point you might be wondering who won the top prize. How big was the winning fish? Well, everybody iss wondering that as well, including the tournament organizers. The largest fish registered now appears to be a 31.9-pound monster caught off Washington Island. Maybe. There is a cloud over the tournament results this year. It seems that the angler who registered the Washington Island fish may have not followed the tournament rules. These rules, which are printed on the back of each tournament ticket, state that every angler in the boat at the time the winning fish is caught must possess a current tournament registration. In addition, all fish must be caught in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan. Washington Island is very close to Michigan waters. As of this writing, there is an investigation ongoing to determine if, in fact, the fish was caught within the tournament rules. To check on the status of this investigation and to get complete tournament results (eventually), go to the K/D Tournament Facebook page. In addition, Kevin Naze, a popular area outdoor writer, wrote a nice article in the Peninsula Pulse summarizing this year’s tournament and detailing the current hullabaloo. Check it out.
Cheating in fishing tournaments, although not common, does occur from time to time. The most frequent method of cheating is to add weight to a fish by stuffing it with lead or some other material. Several years ago, the Baileys Harbor Brown Trout Tournament implemented a procedure where they use a metal detector to check suspect fish. This was done after an angler was caught loading up a salmon in a big tournament. Sadly, metal detectors have now become common at most fish tournaments. I personally would like to see more tournaments go to total length, rather that weight, to determine the largest fish. This seems to be a more consistent method of determining the quality of a fish. For example, a six-pound bass filled with eggs caught in the early spring will weigh considerably less when caught later in the summer. However, a 21-inch fish will never get shorter. It also seems harder to cheat with a total length method. Many of the “catch & release” tournaments that are becoming more prominent utilize a total length determination. I guess anytime large amounts of money are involved, there is the temptation for an angler to cheat to win. The sad part about this incident at the K/D is that, for the most part, tournament anglers are expected to act ethically on their own and monitor themselves. There are no “salmon police” out there on the water looking for violators. It is assumed that anglers will act honorably, and almost all do. Some don’t. As someone once said, “This is why we can’t have nice things!”
The most pathetic attempt to cheat at a fish tournament I’ve ever heard of occurred recently at a tournament in Omer, Michigan. An angler was caught stuffing a fish with lead weights in an attempt to win the top prize of $1000. Sad enough, but this egregious act occurred during the annual Omer Suckerfest. Yes, a guy cheated to win a sucker fishing contest! Although the perpetrator could have been charged with felony fraud for his act, the tournament organizers decided, in Solomon-like manner, that the humiliation of being caught cheating in a sucker contest was punishment enough. Et tu, Catostomus?
Controversy aside, and despite my meager contribution, anglers fishing out of Baileys Harbor appeared prominently on the tournament board. As of the last “unofficial” tournament listing four kings over 26 pounds had been registered at Baileys 57, the official K/D weigh-in station in town. Each day of the tournament a “port prize“ is award to the angler who registers the largest fish that day. Port prize winners at Baileys 57 included Chris Penchoff (21.14#), Kilian Eggert (21.26#), Paul Lukas (23.66#), Alex Hahn (24.76#), Brian Holtz (25.30#), Kevin Luedke (25.71#), Matt Hills (26.35#), Megan Waclchli (21.26#), Callie Kress (26.50#), and Jon Kasten (27.30#).
As a postscript, Paul and I went out three days after the tournament had concluded and we boated our largest Chinook salmon of the season at 22-pounds. This recalled the time when Paul caught the largest brown trout of his life, one that would have easily won the BH Brown Trout Tournament that year. He caught it fishing by himself on the Monday after the tournament had ended. Close, but no cigar.
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, Bruce
Questions or comments to bsmith733@gmail.com
